PHOTO FINISH
Family groups are faxing around a photograph Rep. Tom Davis (R., Va.) doesn't want his GOP colleagues to see. Taken in 1993 and printed in a local Virginia newspaper, it shows a grinning Davis with a bumper sticker on his shirt touting Democrat Don Beyer for Lt. Governor. (Beyer beat his Republican opponent Michael Farris that year, and then lost a race for governor in 1997.) Davis would like to get his hands on the film negatives because he is now running to head the National Republican Congressional Committee, which would make him chiefly responsible for candidate recruitment and funding for the 2000 elections.

Davis earns high marks as a potential fundraiser, but his voting record worries conservatives. In October, for instance, he voted against a requirement for parental notification before minors receive federally-financed contraceptives (the measure passed, but it was stripped from the omnibus bill). He is the kind of Republican that Planned Parenthood likes.

Rep. John Linder (R., Ga.), the incumbent NRCC chair, is seen as a Gingrich loyalist and doesn't generate much enthusiasm among conservatives either, despite a better voting record than Davis. There is some talk that no matter who wins, social conservative Rep. John Doolittle (R., Calif.) will serve as a vice chair at the NRCC.

THE KENNEDY CAUCUS
The next Congress may need to pass Kennedy-control legislation. There is a reasonably good chance that the Senate will include four Kennedys after the 2000 elections: Ted from Massachusetts, Rep. Patrick from Rhode Island (Republican Sen. John Chafee's seat is up in 2000), Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend from Maryland (if Democratic Sen. Paul Sarbanes steps aside), and either JFK Jr. or RFK Jr. in New York (to replace the retiring Sen. Patrick Moynihan).

THE GAY GOP
According to exit polls by Voter News Service, Republicans have made steady gains among gay voters since 1990. That year, 22 percent of gays voted for the GOP in Congressional elections. In 1992, the rate nudged up to 23 percent. In 1994, it hit 26 percent. In 1996, it advanced to 27 percent. And last week, it leaped to 33 percent. The increase may be imaginary; gay voters are probably more likely to identify themselves to exit pollsters today than they were just a few years ago. (In 1998, self-identified gays represented four percent of voters.) Nevertheless, this looks like a trend and one that dramatically undercuts the idea that GOP extremism on social issues is hurting the party.

Republicans also tied or beat highs going back to 1980 among women, seniors, and rural voters.